First jurors sworn in after judge's stern warning to Trump

It was an eventful second day in this historic trial. Here’s a quick recap of what has happened.

• Seven jurors were sworn in today, including a nurse who works in oncology, a man who works in IT training and consulting, and a lawyer.
• A foreperson - charged with overseeing jury deliberations - has also been selected.
• A total of twelve jurors need to be picked, as well as six alternates. That process will continue on Thursday
• The prospective jurors have shared facts about themselves in response to a lengthy questionnaire, including which news outlets they prefer and what podcasts they listen to
• Justice Merchan plans for opening statements to start on Monday morning
• Trump has continued to criticise the case, lambasting the judge and once again sharing the unsubstantiated claim that the case is intended to keep him from campaigning

You can read our full coverage of the day here

We already have one new juror - number 7.

He's a lawyer from North Carolina who now lives on the Upper East Side. He reads a variety of news outlets and likes to spend time outdoors and with his kids.

Justice Merchan tells the newest juror to "put the case out of your mind" until Monday. He instructs him not to think about it, or research it.

Court is now done for the day.

We've moved on to one of the last portions of jury selection of the day.

Trump's lawyers are grilling prospective jurors about their beliefs on their client.

"That's a pretty loaded question," one juror says. The DA's Office has already finished questioning the jurors.

The foreperson in this historic trial of an American president is actually from... Ireland.

A foreperson is the lead juror charged with overseeing jury deliberations.

The juror, who now lives in Harlem, said he works in sales and previously worked as a waiter.

He is married and likes to spend his spare time outdoors.

It just goes to show that New Yorkers can come from all over the world.

We just heard from a prospective juror who says - without 100% certainty - that he's been a prospective juror for another trial where Donald Trump was a defendant.

He doesn't remember what trial - but says it was a long time ago.

And just a few minutes ago we heard from another prospective juror who works in real estate, who said he knows people who know Trump.

It shows the long history many New Yorkers have with the former president, who rose to fame as a Manhattan real estate tycoon in the 1970s and 80s.

Christine Cornell/ReutersCopyright: Christine Cornell/Reuters

Trump looks far more engaged this afternoon than he did yesterday.

He has spent the last hour angled toward the jury box, watching as jurors answer questions one by one.

We've just heard from one of the last prospective jurors of the day, a real estate developer from the Upper East Side.

Like others selected for the jury, he promises to be impartial.

And like another juror today, he says he's read Trump's book, Art of the Deal.

Trump appears to smile and mutter something to his lawyer after he says so.

But the prospective juror finishes with a "full disclosure":

"There are people that I know, that know the president," he says.

He adds: "It wouldn't in any way influence my thinking".

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A private high school teacher has just been dismissed, after she reached the crucial question of whether she had strong opinions about Trump that might impede her ability to be impartial.

“As I'm sitting here reflecting - deeply - I do have concerns," she said.

Justice Merchan dismisses her.

And just like that, one more potential juror is dismissed.

The court was barely in session when the court excused a prospect who is a doctor.

"I’m a medical director and full time doctor," the juror said. "I’m getting concerned about being able to fulfill that and take care of my patients."

The break is now over and court is back in session.

Trump re-entered the room at 16:15 local time (21:15 BST) followed by two secret service agents.

The remaining six potential jurors from the first panel are back for questioning.

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"Ma'am, ma'am put your cell phone away."

Those were the words that greeted one of our new panel of 96 potential jurors who were just sworn in before this short break.

She had whipped out her phone as soon as she saw Donald Trump when the group were escorted into the courtroom.

Some of the latest prospects looked nervous. Most of them craned their necks to get a look at the former president.

The court is now taking a 10 minute recess, after the next panel of potential jurors was briefly brought in.

Trump departs holding a number of file folders and papers. His defence team is following behind him.

Jury selection started with an initial batch of 96 people. Of those, 84 were excused.

Then we have the six who have been selected to sit on the jury. And six others who are in purgatory, they could still be selected or they might be excused.

But the court is on a bit of a roll here and Justice Merchan has decided to get the next batch of potential jurors sworn in.

That's 96 fresh faces entering the arena.

A reminder that a jury is made up of 12 people. And six additional alternates may be needed.

Judge Merchan plans for opening statements to start on Monday morning, as the pace has really picked up.

Jurors will remain anonymous to reporters and the public, but we do know a bit about some of their backgrounds.

So far, the court has seated six jurors who will serve on the first-ever criminal trial of a former president.

• They include a nurse who works in oncology from the famously posh Upper West Side neighbourhood.
• A man from the Lower East Side, who was born in Puerto Rico and works in IT training and consulting.
• A woman who recently graduated from college and lives in Chelsea
• A male lawyer from Chelsea who hails from Oregon and likes to run and hike in his spare time

The six sworn in jurors have been dismissed until opening statements while jury selection finishes.

We have three more jurors, bringing the total to six.

Twelve are needed for the trial, plus up to six alternates.

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Prosecutors spent the break this afternoon combing through social media posts going back as far as 2016.

And not just posts from the prospective jurors, but even their romantic partners.

Todd Blanche, one of Trump's lawyers, brought up a series of posts shared by a potential juror's husband in 2016.

One had a character from "The Simpsons" with Trump's head in its hands, another said "The Avengers unite against Trump".

And Judge Merchan read out lines from the third post with an image of Trump next to President Barack Obama:

"I don’t think this is what they meant, that orange is the new black".

Joshua Steinglass from the prosecution is trying to limit the power these posts have to dismiss potential jurors. He says that "social media posts from seven or eight years ago" serve as a problematic litmus test.

"People post things on social media … that seem to be funny at the time, and that’s not necessarily as weighty as people think it is."

The court is on day two of trying to find a jury in Donald Trump's New York City hush-money trial.

And we know the questions they are asking potential jurors.

So we hit the streets of Manhattan to find out what ordinary New Yorkers would say to those very same questions.

You can watch the video above to see how they answered.